Titans On the Road (Again) With Trip to Malibu

TIP-OFF: After wrapping up final exams in the classroom, the Cal State Fullerton women's basketball team (4-6 overall) returns to the hardwood for another test this weekend as the Titans open a four-game road swing in Malibu against Pepperdine. Fullerton and the Waves will tip-off on Saturday (Dec. 18) at 2 p.m. at Firestone Fieldhouse in the 20th all-time meeting between the two programs.

BE A FOLLOWER: Fans can keep up with the latest in Titans athletics by following us on Facebook (CSUF Athletics), Twitter (@CSUFAthletics) and Vimeo.com (vimeo.com/fullertontitans). In addition, the women's basketball team has established its own official Facebook fan page (search for Cal State Fullerton Women's Basketball).

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? GOOD!: Thanks to a partnership with Arizona-based Stretch Internet, select Cal State Fullerton women's basketball contests will be broadcast live over the Internet at FullertonTitans.com. To access the links, click on the headphones icon in the upper right-hand corner of FullertonTitans.com. Patrick Alog will have the call live from Malibu.

I SEE YOU: For the fifth consecutive season, live streaming video for all of Cal State Fullerton's home regular season contests and selected road games will be available (on a subscription basis) live over the Internet courtesy the Big West TV platform. For a monthly subscription of \$9.95 or an annual subscription of \$79.95, fans can catch all the exclusive action from the comfort of their home computers. For more information, please log on to BigWest.org/TV. Live video will be available for Tuesday's game by visiting PepperdineSports.com/allaccess.

I NEED STATS, STAT!: For the second consecutive season, Cal State Fullerton men's and women's basketball will feature live stats via CBS College Sports' Gametracker interface for all of the Titans' home games as well as select road contests. Links will be available on both the men's and women's basketball schedule pages at FullertonTitans.com.

PEPPERDINE BRIEFLY: The Waves enter the week with a 5-5 overall mark, including a 3-2 record at Firestone Fieldhouse... Pepperdine has dropped three of its last four contests, including a 75-61 defeat at home to San Diego State in its last outing on Dec. 7... the Waves are 2-2 against the Big West Conference this season, posting wins over UC Santa Barbara (68-56) and Cal State Northridge (108-74) and losses to UC Davis (70-62) and UC Irvine (81-75)... Jazmine Jackson leads the team in scoring at 14.4 ppg and is the only Pepperdine player who has started all 10 games... she is also averaging 7.5 rebounds per game and shooting .395 from the field... Lauren Bell (12.0 ppg) and Katie Menton (10.3 ppg) are also in double figures... the Waves are shooting .366 from the field and averaging 71.2 ppg while opponents are hitting on .474 from the floor and averaging 68.8 ppg... Head Coach Julie Rousseau is in her seventh season with Pepperdine, posting an 86-94 (.478) record in her previous six seasons including a pair of postseason berths in 2006 (NCAA First Round) and 2010 (WNIT First Round).

SERIES NOTES: Cal State Fullerton trails in the all-time series with Pepperdine by the count of 11-8 as the Waves have won the last six consecutive meetings with the Titans, including three straight in Malibu... Fullerton hasn't posted a victory against Pepperdine since a 61-59 victory over the Waves on Dec. 29, 1994, in Malibu... Pepperdine won the last meeting between the two programs, 58-40, on Dec. 12, 2008... the six-game winning streak by the Waves is the longest winning streak by either side in the history of the series, overtaking the Titans' five-game winning streak from 1984-91.

WCC SCHEDULE IN FULL SWING: Saturday's contest at Pepperdine will mark the fourth meeting with a West Coast Conference school this season with one more date against defending conference champion Gonzaga remaining on Dec. 23 prior to the holiday break. The Titans, who are 34-50 (.405) all-time against current members of the WCC, are 1-2 against the league this season, defeating San Francisco (69-66) at home on Nov. 18 before falling on the road to San Diego (71-60) on Nov. 24 and Loyola Marymount (77-76) on Dec. 7.

PLANES, TRAINS, AND AUTOMOBILES: It shouldn't be much of a surprise that the Titans are back on the road this week, opening up another extended four-game roadswing with trips to Malibu, Spokane, Davis, and Stockton, to finally close out a stretch of 14 road games in their first 17 contests to start the 2010-11 season. Following next week's trip to Washington to take on Gonzaga, the Titans' will have racked up just over 11,162 round trip miles during the non-conference portion of their schedule and will finish the road trip in January following the opening weekend of Big West play in Northern California with 12,020 miles traveled. At the end of the year, Fullerton will have finished the season with 13,001 miles under its belt this season - not counting any trips the Titans may have to make during the conference tournament and any subsequent postseason jaunts.

MILLENNIUM WATCH: Keep an eye on the scoring column this season as the Titans have potentially three players who could join the 1,000 point clubs this season. Junior Megan Richardson, who led the Titans with 489 points as a sophomore last season, is the closest to the mark, needing just 36 points to become the latest player to reach the milestone. Also closing in on the mark, senior Lyndsey Grove (857 points) and redshirt junior Lauren Chow (796).

There have been 18 players who have reached the 1,000-point plateau in the history of the program, the last being Toni Thomas, who finished with 1,786 points from 2005-09 - the second-highest total in school history.

CENTURY CITY: It had been 15 years since the Cal State Fullerton women's basketball team was able to test the graphic limits of the scoreboard with three digits in the scoring column, but last week against Sacramento State, the Titans did just that, scoring 100 points in a 26-point win over the Hornets at Titan Gym. Until then, Fullerton had been involved in nine 100-point games (all losses) since a 103-78 victory over Cal Poly on Valentine's Day in 1995. Against Sacramento State, the Titans fell just eight points shy of the all-time scoring record of 108 points set against New Mexico State on March 7, 1991, and their 51-point first half was just seven points shy of the single-half mark of 58 also set against the Aggies in that game. With the win, Fullerton improved to 12-21 in 100-point contests dating back to 1970.

`TIS THE SEASON OF GIVING: Well, at least for one night it was. The Titans set a school record last week against Sacramento State, dishing out 28 total assists against the Hornets en route to the 100-74 victory. Fullerton's performance surpassed the previous mark of 27 assists set against San Diego in a 75-48 victory over the Toreros on Dec. 9, 1988. Five different Titans had at least three assists against Sacramento State led by Lauren Chow's season-high six helpers and five apiece from Megan Richardson and Alex Thomas.

SOMEBODY ATE HER WHEATIES: In her 58 previous games at the Division I level, senior Katie Avila had never started a game in a Fullerton uniform. However, thanks to some injury issues in the Titans' front court, the Tehachapi native took full advantage of her chance to break into the starting five, putting forth a pair of career nights to help lift her squad. Avila started her first career contest on Dec. 7 at Loyola Marymount and did not disappoint, scored a then-career best 12 points to go with four rebounds in 22 minutes as the Titans dropped a heartbreaker, 77-76. Not to be outdone, Avila responded in an even bigger way two nights later against Sacramento State, finishing with her first career double-double of 14 points and 11 boards as Fullerton sprinted to a 26-point win, also setting career marks in asssts (4), blocks (2), field goals (6), and minutes (28). For the week, she averaged 13.0 ppg and 7.5 rpg while shooting 10-of-15 (.667) from the floor and 5-of-7 (.714) from the line and, in the process, tripled her season scoring output from 1.3 ppg to 3.9 ppg entering this weekend.

THERE'S THE MEGAN WE KNOW: After being held to just 28 combined points in her previous four games combined, junior Megan Richardson regained her scoring touch last week, averaging a team-high 19.5 ppg while shooting 54 percent (15-for-28) from the field against Loyola Marymount and Sacramento State. Richardson, who ranks second on the team with 14.6 ppg, notched the 14th 20-point game of her career against the Hornets and led or co-led the team in scoring in both games last week.

MISS CONSISTENT: Count on senior Lyndsey Grove to deliver for the Titans this season as the Placentia native enters the week as the only Fullerton player to reach double figures in all 10 games this season - including a season-high 20 points in her last outing against Sacramento State on Dec. 9. Grove, who enters this week tops on the team (and third in the Big West Conference) in scoring at 14.9 ppg, also stands third in the Big West in field goal percentage (.513), fifth in three-point percentage (.412), and 10th in three-pointers made (1.40 pg), while also standing sixth in minutes played (31.10 mpg).

CRISP BURNS HORNETS...: Well, to a crisp. Sophomore Alicya Crisp joined in the scoring party against Sacramento State last week, posting a career-high 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting off the bench to go with three boards, three assists, and three steals in just 18 minutes. It was the first career double-digit scoring game for the Sacramento native, whose previous career best was nine points against BYU on Dec. 12 last season and eclipsed her season high of three points set against Tulane on Nov. 28.

BREITE SPOT ON THE BOARDS: Senior Jenna Breite was a monster on the boards for the Titans last week, averaging 12.5 rebounds per contest against Loyola Marymount and Sacramento State in just over 21 minutes per game. Breite tied a career high with 13 rebounds against the Lions and followed that up with 12 boards in just 15 minutes against the Hornets, marking her first two double-digit rebounding performances of the year. Breite, who leads the team at 7.2 rpg, ranks sixth in the league entering this week's games overall.

BREITE'S BLOCK PARTY: And when the San Diego native wasn't rebounding missed shots, she was knocking them straight out of the air, finishing with a career-high five blocks against LMU on Dec. 7, doubling her entire season total to that point, and helping the Titans to a season-high nine swats as a team. Breite's five blocks were the most for a Fullerton player in a single game since Erin Whiteside finished with the same number against Nevada on Jan. 10, 1999, and the performance helped lift her into eighth in the league at 1.00 bpg.

THE CURE FOR WHAT AILS YA: Was apparently just a little home cooking. Cal State Fullerton's win over Sacramento State on Dec. 9 improved the Titans to 3-0 at home this season - their best home start since the 1991-92 season when they opened with wins over Gonzaga, Georgetown, and Pepperdine. Fullerton, however, will have to wait a while to see if it can improve to 4-0 at home for the first time since 1983-84 as the Titans, who have won 12 of their last 14 at home (including four straight), don't play another home game until Jan. 5, 2011, against UC Irvine to tip-off a four-game homestand - their longest stretch of games at historic Titan Gym this season.

THE COMFORTS OF HOME: As the Titans prepare to embark on yet another extended road trip, their affinity for playing in front of the hometown faithful becomes even more evident. Fullerton, which is just 1-5 in true road games this season (and 0-1 in neutral site contests), is averaging 81.7 ppg in three home contests this season compared to just 63.7 ppg in its six road games (a difference of 18.0 ppg) and is shooting .467 (93-for-199) at Titan Gym to just .399 (140-for-351) on the road.

FROM SHOOTER TO PLAYMAKER: Redshirt junior Lauren Chow is always a threat to unleash a shot, but she seems more apt to set up her teammates to succeed this season while continuing to recover from a knee injury that ended her 2009-10 season after just seven games. Chow co-leads the team with 30 assists and has committed just 16 turnovers while coming off the bench for a 1.88 assist-to-turnover ratio - a mark that stands second in the league entering this week's contests. Chow entered the season as the Big West Conference's active leader in assists with 208, ahead of UC Riverside's Alyssa Morris, who was second with 169.

CHOW PEEKING AT THE RECORD BOOK: Chow is rapidly approaching the school's three-point record, needing just nine more from long distance to break Charlee Underwood's mark of 164 set from 2003-07 while her 470 three-point attempts are 12 shy of Underwood's mark of 482, and her three-point percentage of .330 is already tied for seventh. Chow's 238 career assists are also closing in on the all-time top 10 as she needs 77 more to match Chris O'Sullivan (1976-80) for 10th place while her 107 career steals are 46 shy of the top 10 list.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS...: As the calendar turns to December, visions of more than sugar plums are dancing in the heads of the Titans. More than just their two front teeth, Fullerton would like some tallies in the win column after it has suffered through a three-plus season stretch during which the Titans have gone just 3-17 in the month of December since the 2007-08 campaign and haven't had a winning December since going 4-3 in 2006-07.

PUT ME IN COACH!!!: The Titans have parlayed their tremendous depth into solid production from the bench thus far in 2010, as Fullerton's reserves have outscored their counterparts in six of the team's 10 contests this season - including four straight games from Nov. 21 to Nov. 28. The bench scored 32 points in a 31-point win over San Jose State to kick off the stretch and has scored 20 points or more six times this season - including a season-high 37 points last week against Sacramento State.

BLOCKS A PLENTY: The Titans ranked last in the Big West Conference in blocked shots last season with just 38 swats in 32 games, but it looks as if Cal State Fullerton is out to buck that trend in 2010-11. Through 10 games this season, the Titans have already rejected 32 shots - already 22 more than they had through 10 games in 2009-10. Fullerton, which stands tied for fifth in the league in overall blocks entering the week, is led by the twin-tower duo of senior Jenna Breite (10) and Lauren Bushong (8), who have combined for over half of the team's total. Already this season, 11 different players have tallied a blocked shot - the most since 12 Titans finished with at least one swat during the 2008-09 campaign.

SHOOTER!: After not shooting better than 40 percent in their previous four contests, the Titans finally found their touch from the floor, combining to hit just over 51 percent (72-of-141) from the field last week at LMU and against Sacramento State, including a season-high .512 against the Hornets.

NOT JUST FOR DESSERT ANYMORE: The Titans' defense has been serving up its fair share of turnovers this season, forcing the opposition into 173 miscues thus far and turning those into 178 points for the "good guys" through 10 games. Fullerton has forced 20-or-more turnovers in five of its 10 games, including a season-best 24 turnovers at Seattle University on Nov. 14 and against Sacramento State on Dec. 9. The 173 turnovers forced are third in the league (UC Davis is tops at 197) and the Titans' stand third in the Big West with a +1.90 turnover margin (the Aggies are first at +5.50). On the offensive side of the ball, Fullerton is also one of the best, as its 15.4 turnovers per game are the best in the league (UC Riverside is second at 16.3 per game).

TITANS SIGN TALL TRIO FOR 2011-12: Cal State Fullerton women's basketball head coach Marcia Foster announced Thursday that the Titans have signed three players to National Letters of Intent to continue their academic and athletic careers with the Titans.

Austin, a six-foot guard/forward, helped lead the Normans to the second round of the CIF Division II State Tournament as a junior, averaging just under 14 points and 13.2 rebounds per game for the year while swatting 3.8 blocks per game. She was an All-Ocean League First-Team and All-CIF Second-Team honoree in 2010, helping Beverly Hills HS to a 21-13 overall mark.

Williams, a 6-1 forward/center who played her freshman season at Artesia HS in Lakewood, helped the Saints to a CIF Division V title as the division's top seed and a runner-up finish at the CIF State Tournament as a junior, averaging eight points and 10 rebounds per contest en route to All-Santa Cruz League Honorable Mention honors. St. Anthony's finished 26-10 overall, reaching the state title game for the first time in school history.

Palmer, a 6-2 left-handed post player from Northern California, averaged 9.2 ppg and 8.4 rpg as a junior, earning All-Capital Athletic League honors and serving as team captain for the second-straight season. She was also named the team's Best Defensive Player twice as a sophomore and junior.